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ERIC ED140358: Escalation of Agitative Rhetoric: A Case Study of Mattachine Midwest, 1967-1970.

by: ERIC

Publication date: 1977
Topics: ERIC Archive, ERIC, Darsey, James Case Studies, Civil Rights, Communication (Thought Transfer), Homosexuality, Minority Groups, Rhetoric, Social Action, Speech Communication, ,
Collection: ericarchive; usgovernmentmirrors; government-documents
Language: English
Item Size: 21.5M

This paper examines the adequacy of Bowers and Ochs' theory of social movements as applied to the escalating agitative strategies of a dissident group, the homosexual-rights organization Mattachine Midwest. The group's activities are described chronologically, in terms of the strategies employed: petition, promulgation, polarization, solidification, politicization, coalition, nonviolent resistance, and escalation/confrontation. This sequence is compared to the Bowers and Ochs schema, which is found to remain largely intact. Two of the strategies, politicization and coalition, were not part of the original schema. Limitations and advantages of the Bowers and Ochs' approach are discussed in the light of the results of the case study. (AA)